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Strykar Thorkel
=Appearance= Strykar is a tall black haired blue eyed Cimmerian Male with handsome features. His skin is marked with the blue tribal tatoos of his homland, as well as a strange brown claw tattoo of Stygian design. His back is crisscrossed with a web of scars from his time as a galley slave, and he bares old scares on his arms and legs from his days as a gladiator. In combat he is known to wear whatever armor is available and to carry a weapon in each hand. In more social situations he tends to go shirtless by choice, though he's not againt "Dressing up" when the need arises. =Personality= Strykar is good natured, but a beast of a man and a terror to his enemies. He is an optimistic, impulsive risk taker. Strykar tends to live life to the fullest, but at a base and hedonistic level. He is brash and insolent when it comes to his own personal freedoms, a trait that did not serve him well as a slave. Having once been another man’s property by law, Strykar has no care for the laws of men, and lives how he chooses. He goes where the money is, and follows his own interests. He is aware of the gods, but sees no reason to worship them, since the only god who seems to have taken an interest in him was the one who’s cult branded him and stripped him of a great deal of his skills. =History= Strykar was born in Cimmeria, though he does not remember his homeland. At a very young age he was taken by Vanir slavers and sold to a Stygian master. In his master’s care he was trained as a house servant. He learned to read and write as it was his master’s wish that he could handle records when he was older, but Strykar was a temperamental and impudent slave. Beatings did little to curb his independent streak, and when he hit puberty, his temper turned towards violence, lashing out at other slaves who sought to dominate and mistreat him. At age fourteen he lashed out and struck his master’s wife bloodying her lip. For this transgression his master had him dragged to the gladiator arena where he would be put to death. Tossed into an arena with a hungry panther, Strykar surprised the crowd when he managed to kill the beast with just the short sword he had been given. A cheer went up among the crowd, and his master’s anger was sated with the prize money that was given. From then on Strykar was a gladiator. His master, pleased that he had finally found a use for young Strykar, paid for Strykar to be trained by some of the best gladiators in Stygia. For his part the young Cimmerian proved a willing student, proving that he was not only capable with a sword, but that he could wield it with either hand or with one in each hand if the need arose. During this time he also made a few friends among the other gladiators and receive a series of tattoos marking him as a Cimmerian warrior so as to be easily recognized by the crowds. Strykar’s popularity grew, not only with the blood thirsty crowds that were anxious for him to spill blood, but with the many female noblewomen who paid to visit him in the night. This proved to be his undoing though, for one of his most frequent visitors was the wife of his master. When the man found out that his wife had been sleeping with his best slave, he was furious. Never mind the fact that he had bedded many of his own slave girls and even sired children with them. He proclaimed that he had been betrayed and banished his wife to a small villa on the outskirts of Stygia. He then planned to have Strykar killed in the arena, but before he could do so, he was approached by a figure in a dark cloak. It seemed his mistress was in need of bodies for some ritual or another, and he was willing to pay good money for such a healthy and strong gladiator. Strykar ate dinner one night and woke up the next day chained to the ores of a ship. There he remained for an uknown amount of time. His mind clouded by a strange fog, a fog that did not begin to lift until the day the ship wrecked on the shores of the Barachan Isles. Since then Strykar has been making his own way in the world, attempting to recover what he lost to the strange fog that has settled in his mind. His only clue to his past and future is the strange claw tattoo that has been placed upon his right shoulder. Strykar made a return to Stygia, hoping to find his former master and be done with the man once and for all. He stalked the streets until coming to the house of the noble man overlooking the Khemi docks, there he found the gates opened and unguarded. Storming inside he discovered his former master's house in shambles. The arrogent nobleman had be strung up by his arms by across the arched entryway to the house. A pack of stray dogs hand chewed at his feet and the crows had taken what they wanted from his face including the man's eyes and tongue, yet some how the man still lived. Showing pitty on the reched man, Strykar cut him down and put an end to his former master's life. Any more pain he could cause this man was nothing compared to what had already transpired. It was then he saw upon the wall a the mark of Thoth-Amon, the same mark he himself bore upon his chest. So this to was tied to his fate. Some day he would have his vengeance upon the wizard, and discover exactly what fate had in store for him. While travelling back to the docks Strykar heard muffled screams from a back alley. While not an uncommon sound in the streets of Khemi, something about the sound made the warrior turn from his path and investigate. There in the shadowy alley behind the Serpent Head Inn, Strykar laid eyes upon a beautiful woman dark haired woman, her body nude save for a ragged scrap of cloth around her waist, her golden eyes glazed over from some sort of drugs. Two oily looking Stygians were loading her into a tall wicker basket, and from the looks of her, they had had their way with her before deciding to store her away. Knowing the woman was bound for slavery, or worse, Strykar struck down the two men taking one's head from his shoulders and impaling the second man, pinning him to the wall. Strykar then took the woman with him to his ship, knowing Old Tarantia was a far safer place for her to recover than the Inns of Stygia. When the woman awoke at first she attempted to attack him. She was quick and strong, but he was able to catch her and pin her down long enough to let her know what happened. At first she disbelieved his story, but he won her trust by handing her a knife, kneeling before her and offering his neck to her. Rather than kill him she embraced him, thanking him for saving his life. She said her name was Narcissa, a harlot and assassin for hire. During the long voyage back to Aquilonia, the two became close friends, deciding to keep in contact. A short time after arriving in Old Tarantia, Narcissa signed on with a guild of adventuring Harlots. Upon their next meeting, Strykar was introduced to Solitaire and was quickly hired on as a Bodyguard. Since then he has grown close to several members of the group, and the bond between himself and Narcissa has grown deeper, moving from friendship to romance and possibly love. =OOC= Stykar spent around 10 years as a slave gladiator in Stygia. Anyone from Stygia could have seen him perform in the various gladiator pits and arenas through out the area. Noble women might have paid for Strykar's attentions, and anyone could have gained or lost money betting on him. If you want to make a connection to my character, I'm open, just let me know ahead of time if it's anything personal or major.